This sweet-faced thing was part of a celebration honoring my friend, Nancy, for her birthday. Her birthday falls around Easter and her mom used to make her lamb cakes covered with coconut -- I decided that I would surprise her and finally try the Rich's Coconut Cake recipe that I had clipped from the Atlanta Journal Constitution a few years ago.

I had heard a number of people mention how fond they were of this cake when Rich's still had a bakery and I guess it is a big deal that they finally got hold of the recipe. Never mind that it is 800 CALORIES A SERVING! Or that it has vegetable shortening in both the cake and the frosting. Mmm, mmm good.

I actually made this cake twice becausea) I had never made a coconut cake from scratch before, and b) I have never used a 3D cake pan before.

Good thing I did! The first one didn't rise like it should have and didn't fill out the entire mold. It flopped. On its side. Poor thing couldn't stand on its own. And you know what?! No wonder. I just found this edited version of the cake when looking for a good link for the recipe to put in this post - apparently they swapped the flour and sugar amounts by mistake in the version I had. I guess that is why the cake was more cakey than I thought it should be. Still good though! Guess third time will be a charm.::Thanks to Mr. BITH for helping frost and coconut goo the cake. Oh, and skewering it back together again after the head fell off on the way up!!::This is Nancy finally seeing the cake. It seemed like people enjoyed it, but they were even more enthralled with the edible Easter grass surrounding the cake. Go figure :)

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

I grew up in Florida, so dumplings weren't the staple there that they seem to be here in 'Joeja'.When I saw this recipe in the latest BH&G, I decided that I would have to give it a try and make it from scratch -- especially since the chef is local {Scott Peacock from Watershed in Decatur}.

. . . even if I did have to YouTube how to quarter a chicken properly. No pictures of that mess after my attempt, thank goodness. That caption would have to read, "How to mangle a carcass," or "Which cut of meat do you think this is?"

Truly magically delicious!

Here's my picture:

Here's the fancy food stylist's version (her name is Jill LUST - what a great name for a stylist!):